Functional Expression, Purification and Identification of Interaction Partners of PACRG

( co-regulated gene) shares a bi-directional promoter with the Parkinson's disease-associated gene , but the physiological roles of PACRG have not yet been fully elucidated. Recombinant expression methods are indispensable for protein structural and functional studies. In this study, the coding region of was cloned to a conventional vector pQE80L, as well as two cold-shock vectors pCold II and pCold-GST, respectively. The constructs were transformed into (DE3), and the target proteins were overexpressed. The results showed that the cold-shock vectors are more suitable for PACRG expression. The soluble recombinant proteins were purified with Ni chelating column, glutathione S-transferase (GST) affinity chromatography and gel filtration. His pull down assay and LC-MS/MS were carried out for identification of PACRG-binding proteins in HEK293T cell lysates, and a total number of 74 proteins were identified as potential interaction partners of PACRG. GO (Gene ontology) enrichment analysis (FunRich) of the 74 proteins revealed multiple molecular functions and biological processes. The highest proportion of the 74 proteins functioned as transcription regulator and transcription factor activity, suggesting that PACRG may play important roles in regulation of gene transcription.